That's one way to do it.

This is what we woke up to on Monday morning. It stormed a little that night, but I'm not sure that the winds were strong enough to do this! Jakob woke me up that morning saying, "Mom, you really need to come look at the tree out back." It was quite a shock to see 1/3 of our crabapple tree laying in the yard! Jay, with the help of a friend, was able to remove the huge limb and haul it out front. We're hoping that the rest of the tree will hang in there, but we're keeping a close eye on it since I'm sure it'd be less expensive to remove the tree than it would be to rebuild our patio awning!

While I was out taking pics of the tree, I decided to capture some of the blooms that have come up around the yard.

The pink roses on the side of the house are already quite plentiful...


and the peonies looked quite lovely before this morning's heavy rainstorm...

(they're pretty much obliterated now)

There are several pretty little columbines blooming under the cedar next to the house...



Ahhhh. I am so thankful that school is out and summer vacation has begun! I think we all really needed a break from the routine of school. I, for one, really enjoy the opportunity to sleep in :)